Automated Teller Machine Inventors

Who invented the ATM? Part 1

Over the years many people have tried to lay claim to the
title of "inventor of the ATM."

by Anthony Miller
ATMmachine.com

Some believe that Luther George Simjian was the inventor because
his idea came first. Some believe it was Don Wetzel, after all, he's
got patents on display in the Museum of American History to prove
it. Still others, including the Queen of England, say the inventor
is John Shepherd-Barron. John D. White has contacted ATMmachine.com,
sent us copies of patents, and gave convincing evidence that he is
the inventor.
James Goodfellow of Scotland also contacted ATMmachine.com and gave
us his account,, including copies of patents. Jairus Larson contacted
ATMmachine.com and, although he did not invent the ATM, he did develop
the first "on-line" ATM.

Since the patent on an ATM was never applied for until years after
Mr. Simjian, confusion on the inventor still exists. One reason for
the confusion is that John Shepherd-Barron lived in the United Kingdom
and James Goodfellow in Scotland. While all the others lived in the
USA. I will present all the facts and evidence as I know it on this
page, while being brief.

The ATM Inventors and the facts:

Luther George Simjian

In the late 1930's, Luther George Simjian started building an earlier
and not-so-successful version of an ATM. He did register related patents.
He initially came up with the idea of creating a "hole-in-the-wall
machine." It would allow customers to make financial transactions,
without entering the bank. The idea was met with a great deal of doubt.
Starting in 1939, Simjian registered 20 patents related to the device
and persuaded what is now Citicorp to give it a trial. After six months,
the bank reported that there was little demand. Today, as you know,
there is a huge demand!

John Shepherd-Barron

John Shepherd-Barron had an idea in the 1960's for a 24/7 cash dispenser.
He was managing director of De La Rue Instruments. De La Rue today
manufactures cash dispensers. There is a De La Rue cash dispenser
in 1 out of every 5 ATM machines built. If you want to say that Shepherd-Barron
invented the ATM, then the world's first ATM was installed outside
North London. It was installed in a branch of Barclays Bank in 1967.
Later that year, Shepherd-Barron presented his idea to a conference.
The conference consisted of 2,000 US bankers in Miami, this was after
the first ATMs had been installed in England. He spoke to the conference
about the new self-service banking device he developed. On December
31, 2004, John Shepherd-Barron, was named an OBE, Officer of the Order
of the British Empire by the Queen. It was for "services to banking."
Shepherd Barron said: "It was a bit late, but better late than
never." Press releases stated that Shepherd-Barron was the "Inventor
of the ATM." But, was he really the inventor?
Sadly, John Shepherd-Barron passed away, in May of 2010, in Scotland.

James Goodfellow

As a Development engineer with Smiths Industries Ltd, James Goodfellow
was given a project. It was to develop an automatic cash dispenser
in 1965. Chubb Lock & Safe Co. were to provide the secure physical
housing. They were also to develop a mechanical dispenser mechanism.
Mr. Goodfellow designed the new system. It consisted of a machine
readable encrypted card, and the machine that read it. To this he
added a numerical keypad. UK Patent No.1,197,183 with a priority date
of May 2 1966, covers this invention. It is also covered by US Patent
No.3,905,461 and Patents granted by many other countries. These Patents
list James Goodfellow as inventor, along with the late A.I.O.Davies,
the company General Manager. This US Patent still describes the basic
ATM function almost 40 years later. These Machines were marketed by
Chubb LTD. They were installed nationwide in the UK during the late
60s and early 70s. You can read "Who Invented the ATM? Part 2
here: ATM
inventor James Goodfellow's story on ATMmachine.com. "
Thanks goes out to Mr. Goodfellow for giving us his permission.
(Update: In 2006, James Goodfellow was selected by the Queen to be
awarded an OBE for his services. He was awarded this as patentee of
the Personal Identification Number (PIN), and for his service to banking.

Don Wetzel

In 1968, according to a NMAH interview, Don Wetzel, says he was the
Vice President of Product Planning at Docutel. The company that developed
automated baggage-handling equipment. He applied for a patent on an
ATM machine. He said there were two other inventors listed on the
patent. They were Tom Barnes, a mechanical engineer. George Chastain,
an electrical engineer. It took five million dollars to develop their
ATM according to Mr. Wetzel. If you want say that Wetzel and company
invented the ATM, then you might want to read the next paragraph.

John D. White

John D. White told ATMmachine.com that his work started in 1968.
He told us that he installed the first ATM at Rockville Center, LI
for the then Chemical Bank in August 1973. His design was patented
on May 9, 1973 for the Docutel Corporation and was filed on July 29,
1970. The machine was a "Credit Card Automatic Currency Dispenser".
Mr. White provided copies of his patent to ATMmachine.com. We reviewed
them. It does indeed state that the inventor of the machine was John
D. White and Kenneth Goldstein. The assignee on the patent was the
Docutel Corporation. This is very convincing evidence. It appears
that it was White and not Wetzel who received the patent. There is
also a statement in the patent that supports the idea of the modern
ATM.
"Both the original code and the updated code are scrambled in
accordance with a changing key", which is what happens today.
ATM's are programmed with security keys and the code changes. Today
they must be 3DES certified. It is encrypted ( scrambled) to prevent
fraudulent access to credit card and ATM debit numbers. This occurs
between the machine, the bank, and the network processor. In the form
of data transmissions. We would like to thank Mr. White for contacting
us. And for sharing all of the documentation. The patent drawings
he gave us look very much like the free standing ATM that is sold
on ATMmachine.com today.

Jairus Larson

Jairus Larson told ATMmachine.com he did not invent the ATM. But,
as far as he is aware, he developed the first 'on-line' ATM. This
would be Diebold's "550". The first ATM's were all 'off-line'
versions (referred to in the past as 'stand-alone'). Meaning they
did not have any means to communicate with the bank network. Today's
ATMs are "on-line". On-line in the sense that they communicate
with the bank's computer system. Mr. Larson was kind enough to give
us his account of how this happened in the early 1970's. You can read
more about Mr.
Larson's ATM development here.

Who does ATMmachine.com think was the inventor?

Who invented the idea of an ATM? We believe it was Luther George
Simjian. Who invented the ATM as we know it? We have to think it was
James Goodfellow in Scotland for holding a patent date of 1966. Who
invented the free standing ATM design we recognize today? We think
it was John D. White for Docutel in the US.

We want to say that the Smithsonian Institute Museum may need to
take a close look at who they claim the inventor of the ATM is.
We do not believe they had all the facts available to them when they
made their choice. They still may choose to say Don Wetzel, but if
presented with the evidence we were given, that decision may have
changed.
The Queen of England needs to include James Goodfellow of Scotland
when speaking of "services to banking." And to give credit
to the inventor of the ATM in the United Kingdom.

The story seems to be ever changing and we will update this page
whenever we get new information.